Public Access

ARTICLES ABOUT PUBLIC ACCESS BY DATE - PAGE 5

Legislators in Harrisburg should stop an attempt to weaken the state's new right-to-know law. The Senate passed a bill unanimously last week that would water down several provisions of the two-year-old law, which granted greater public access to government records. The latest measure, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Chester), would restrict the records available from government contractors, charge members of the public just to view a public record, and prevent the public from viewing delinquencies of water and sewer authorities.

Given New Jersey's varied Shore communities and the recession-driven stresses being felt on town finances, it may make sense for Gov. Christie to scale back the one-size-fits-all approach to promoting public access to the state's beaches. The test will be whether relaxing rules on beach access is seized upon by Shore towns and property owners to post the equivalent of more "private beach" signs. For now, proposed new beach-access rules are receiving good reviews from municipal officials and at least tentative acceptance by the state's Sierra Club chapter.

Jersey Shore officials - from towns that encourage day-trippers and those where scarce parking and public restrooms can make a visitor feel unwelcome - are applauding a draft of loosened beach-access rules released by the state. The Department of Environmental Protection intends to "enhance" public access to coastal areas while relaxing its regulatory grip on Shore towns, the agency announced in June. Gov. Christie called for revisions based on "commonsense principles" in consultation with towns and property owners, said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

Public access to New Jersey's beaches will be enhanced and Shore towns will get out from under "burdensome and costly" rules that eroded their municipal power under regulations proposed Tuesday by the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to officials. "We want a policy in place that works for everyone, that allows ample and easy access to our waters while removing onerous burdens on businesses and property owners," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said in a written statement.

FOR THOSE disgusted with events like the recent transit strike - in which deals are done in closed rooms with citizens having little say in things that directly affect their lives - here's an antidote: Tonight, citizens get a chance to interview five finalists contending to create a master plan for the central Delaware waterfront. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is hosting the meeting, at which citizens can hear how firms would approach the process that will literally lay the groundwork for streets, land use, public access and more for the central Delaware.

JUST TWO YEARS ago, the city's Central Delaware waterfront was known for big-box stores, the potential home of two controversial casinos, and a long history of squandered opportunity to create a vital asset for the city. But in the past 18 months, that reality was transformed by a big, new vision, created with the input of experts and citizens. The foundation of that vision rests on balancing public access and amenities with thoughtful development. The lastest step in reaching that goal was the hiring of a new president of the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.

A special judicial panel in Philadelphia has admonished a prominent federal judge in San Francisco for storing pornographic images that were accessible to the public on a personal Web site. The panel said yesterday that Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, was imprudent for storing the sexually explicit material on a home computer server that could be viewed by the public. However, it did not criticize Kozinski for having the material, nor did it impose any penalties.

The Associated Press and other Florida news organizations sued the NCAA and Florida State University yesterday, charging they schemed to violate open government laws by not making correspondence public about an academic cheating scandal at the school. "This action concerns a scheme created to avoid public access," the 21-page lawsuit said. "The scheme developed by the NCAA and aided by FSU and its counsel is particularly insidious to Florida's constitutional and statuory guarantee of access to public records.

Chester Community Charter School, the state's largest nonprofit charter, must make public a wide range of information about pay and profits going to its for-profit management company, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has ruled. The decision by the new state agency created to hear Right-to-Know Law cases came this month in response to an appeal The Inquirer filed after the Delaware County school with 2,150 students denied a request for the information. Randi J. Vladimer, Chester Community Charter's attorney, wrote Friday in an e-mail that the school "is still exploring its options with respect to this matter," which could include an appeal to Delaware County Court.

From Sea Bright to Cape May, landlords and business owners have spent weeks readying the Jersey Shore for Memorial Day weekend, the summer season's dress rehearsal. Public works crews have dragged lifeguard stands and trash receptacles onto the beaches almost around the clock. Long Beach Island has put its traffic lights into full operation for the first time since fall. And bright spring blooms bob in freshly painted flower boxes everywhere. In Surf City, on Long Beach Island, officials just this week completed a cleanup of unexploded military munitions that began to show up on the beach after a sand-replenishment project two years ago. Nearly 2,000 munitions later, the Army Corps of Engineers swears it has carted off the last of them.